Suzhou Narrative Songs: Empress with Unbound Feet
Updated: 2004-09-13

Suzhou Narrative Songs: The Empress with Unbound Feet

Time: September 17-18, 2004

Venue: Zhejiang Music Hall

Performance: the Suzhou City Storyteller Group

Ma Fengying, the empress of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born with a pair of big feet -a taboo subject in feudal society where small feet were favored. Once a scholar named Wang Yong wrote"the empress with big feet"at a lantern festival, offending the emperor and nearly courting his own destruction. Taking their cue from the remarks everyone, from the emperor to high-ranking officials, from eunuchs to scholars, aired their opinions, mirroring their respective personalities. The empress, however, stuck to her principles. Taking the opportunity, she displayed the value of being practical and realistic all the time and the importance of always sticking to the truth.